The OutKick Elite 12 Welcomes Back Alabama, Says Goodbye To The Aggies

There were seven ranked teams in the Top-25 that lost games this past weekend in college football, and we are closing in on the last few weeks of the regular season. It was Ohio State making a statement at Penn State, while Texas A&M had one week in the standings before losing to South Carolina on Saturday night. 

A vast majority of folks thought this would be a two-team race for the ACC's automatic bid, but after Clemson was destroyed at home by Louisville, this could actually come down to Miami and SMU, and not the Tigers. Sure, there is a good amount of football left to play, but the automatic bid is coming down to the wire, and the ACC championship game will be fascinating. 

For the SEC, well, another week has come and gone, with the top team in the conference taking a loss. One week after beating LSU and becoming the only undefeated team in the conference, Texas A&M was beaten up on Saturday night by South Carolina, throwing a wrench into the SEC standings. 

As for the Big Ten, all roads are leading to the Ohio State versus Indiana matchup in a few weeks, which could decide how the championship game is formatted, with Oregon continuing to impress. Obviously. Penn State is still a top-12 team after losing at home to Ohio State, but it's going to be interesting to see how many teams from the conference make the college football playoff. 

For the Big 12, all hell broke loose this past weekend, with Iowa State and Kansas State both losing, sending th standings into disarray. Now, with BYU sitting in first place, there is a path for Deion Sanders and Colorado to make the Big 12 title game, which could lead to a spot in the playoffs. 

Alright, let's take a look at our expert pickers, who put together the best twelve teams in college football this week

Here is the list of pickers for each week's OutKick Top-12 Poll. 

  • Clay Travis
  • Trey Wallace
  • Chad Withrow
  • Jonathan Hutton
  • Dan Dakich
  • Les Miles
  • Brock Huard
  • Lou Holtz
  • Tommy Tuberville
  • Jeannine Edwards
  • Will Cain
  • Ricky Cobb
  • Kelly Stewart

OutKick College Football Playoff Top-12, Week Eight Rankings

This is the eighth week of rankings for the OutKick panel of voters, and while Texas A&M and Penn State did drop games on Saturday, the Aggies were obviously the only team to fall out of this week's poll. 

Alabama has once again made an appearance in the new poll, grabbing the 11th place spot with a massive game against LSU upcoming this weekend. 

How the College Football Playoff Would Look Right Now. Voters Make Their Case

As we do every week, each voter has their top-12 published so that you can take a look at where they rank each team in the polls. 

There were five voters that had SMU in their top-12 coming off the dominating win over Pittsburgh this par Saturday. Right now, the Mustangs control their own destiny when it comes to playing for an ACC championship, with Clemson now on the outside looking in. 

One of the most interesting battles right now is for the 12th spot, with Boise State getting enough votes to receive the spot this week. But, Army also received votes, and are currently trying to play their way into that final position. But, if Boise State runs the table, it will be hard for voters to keep them out, even if Army were to run the table as well. 

We are on a collision course for a number of key matchups this week across college football. The lineup this week includes Alabama versus LSU, Georgia visiting Ole Miss and Colorado heading to Texas Tech. Keep an eye on the Big 12 race, as this one is going to be very entertaining over the next four weeks. 

There you have it, the votes were calculated, and now we wait for another huge weekend of football. 

Let me know what you think about this week's projections. Email me at Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com and voice your opinion. 

Written by
Trey Wallace is the host of The Trey Wallace Podcast that focuses on a mixture of sports, culture, entertainment along with his perspective on everything from College Football to the College World Series. Wallace has been covering college sports for 15 years, starting off while attending the University of South Alabama. He’s broken some of the biggest college stories including the Florida football "Credit Card Scandal" along with the firing of Jim McElwin and Kevin Sumlin. Wallace also broke one of the biggest stories in college football in 2020 around the NCAA investigation into recruiting violations against Tennessee football head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Wallace also appears on radio across seven different states breaking down that latest news in college sports.